The San Francisco-based online clothing company has a history of newsjacking—it made a name for itself when Mark Zuckerberg met with Wall Street bankers in (what else) a hoodie. Zuckerberg's sister Randi stumbled upon Betabrand's $148 Executive Hoodie (think worsted wool) and inventories instantly sold out.

Fast forward to this week, and the small brand has made an art of fast-turn content marketing that this week included a one-take video capitalizing on reports that Silicon Valley legend HP was banning t-shirts in its engineering department to recruit some engineers of its own.

That was Monday. On Tuesday I told CEO Chris Lindland that he had a hit on his hands. By Wednesday Adweek and FastCompany had covered the video. And whether responding to it or simply the news reports, HP Human Resources felt the need to post its own video reassuring employees that the ban was just an unfounded rumor.

I talked with Chris again this morning about his amazing week—and what is says about effective content marketing in general—and powerhouse newsjacking in particular.

Can a new TV show about a female superhero aspire to create positive messages for girls and women as well as (or better than) a certain viral video from a feminine products brand?

In just the last few weeks, Procter & Gamble's viral sensation "Like A Girl" won the GoodWorks Effie, which is designed to recognize marketers for effectively using their platforms for "purpose-driven' campaigns. That is to say, campaigns that accomplish some social good, beyond (just) promoting the brands behind them.

As most everyone in the world of marketing and advertising knows by now, the video, for P&G's Always brand, explores the meaning of the phrase "like a girl" - and how to redefine it. It's powerful stuff, and since its debut last summer, it has generated nearly 60 million views—and has been likened to some of the best work coming from Unilever's long-running "Campaign for Real Beauty."

Right around the same time, we also saw the release of a six-minute trailer for CBS-TV's new show "Supergirl" from Berlanti Productions—the team behind "The Flash," "Arrow," and the upcoming "Legends of Tomorrow" on CW.

Based on the character in DC comics, the series follows Kara Zor-El, the preteen cousin of baby Kal-El, as she is rocketed to Earth in the moments before the planet Krypton explodes (or the surviving Argo City becomes contaminated, depending on your origin story of choice).

Through the peculiar dynamics of space-time, Kara arrives on Earth many years after Kal-El has grown up as Clark Kent, finding herself in awe of the man (and hero) he has become. As she enters her twenties, Kara must forge her own path, and decide if and how to best use her own considerable gifts to make a difference in the world.

Just as with "Like A Girl," the trailer instantly broke the Internet. In just its first week, it had generated over 10 million views—though no exclusively to fanfare.

Commentary on one side included the usual fanboy outrage, as well as criticism likening the trailer (not without merit) to some of the rom-com tropes parodied in a recent SNL spoof for a "Black Widow" movie, based on Scarlett Johansson's character in "The Avengers."

On the other side: Viewers who looked past the cliches and saw something more promising. (A leaked video of the full first episode seems to have put reviews decidedly in the positive column, with some indicating the worst elements of the trailer are only minor facets of the show.)

'The World's Greatest Heroine'

One can't help but find star Melissa Benoist captivating here.

But as a marketer who has written extensively about cause marketing in books such as THE ON-DEMAND BRAND and BRANDING UNBOUND; as a lifelong genre fan; and, I should add, as a husband and father, I see lots of potential for something that is not only a blast to watch, but something that can make a difference.

This optimism has a lot to do with Greg Berlanti, whose "Flash" has balanced unabashed exuberance with unexpected heart. The Season One finale is chock full of both, served with enough Easter Eggs to fill a master's thesis.

That show, based on another DC property, follows a young Barry Allen and his origins as The Fastest Man Alive. And it toys with our understanding of the character, as well as themes and story lines shaped through 70 years of mythology (including a pivotal moment in the character's history—a moment he handled to disastrous effect in the comics, and tackled in another, more painful and poignant way in the show), in compelling ways.

"The Flash" and "Supergirl" will not feature crossovers for some time, if ever, due to the fact that they air on separate networks.

But press reports indicate they do exist in the same universe. And it is not lost on Berlanti (or fans) that within the mythology, Barry and Kara are bound by a shared destiny at the center of a cataclysm that has been amply foreshadowed in "The Flash."

A Force for Good—or Not?

"Supergirl" is clearly aimed at teenage girls, far more than even "The Flash" or "Arrow," which have found footing with both sexes—and all ages.

So how can "Supergirl" do some good this fall?

1. Play Up the "Girl Power" Ethos.

This appears to be built into the equation.

Just look at the show's (brilliant) tagline: "It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's not a man....It's Supergirl." Throw in Rachel Platten's "Fight Song," and the trailer makes an unambiguous statement. Even better: Despite hints to the contrary, word has it that despite hints to the contrary, the pilot at least avoids indicating that Kara needs a love interest to complete her.

This kind of roll model is not without precedent.

Decades ago, Wonder Woman became a symbol of female empowerment, inspiring Gloria Steinem to feature the character on the cover of the first issue of Ms. magazine. That was three years before Lynda Carter hit prime time as the character, in a version of the heroine pulled from one of the more prominent of DC's alternate realities. And it was 40 years before psychologist Amy Cuddy took to TED to share research with 26 million viewers that striking a Wonder Woman pose for two minutes every day can help women build self-confidence. (Read more on this amazing history here.)

It happened through the simple act of portraying a powerful force for truth and justice who just happened to be a woman.

Berlanti's first job is to entertain, not preach. But there's no reason the show can't redefine what facing danger and demonstrating heroism "like a girl" can mean.

2. Grant Viewers a Whole Lot Less "Cat"

Calista Flockhart's "Cat Grant" character could make for an outstanding rival, so long as Kara's view of "girldom" counterbalances Grant's worst stereotypes.

I'm not (just) talking about the "Devil Wears Prada"-esque elements in general—which are freaking painful to watch. I'm talking specifically about a certain (overly-long, overly-precious) moment between Kara and Cat, after Grant has dubbed Kara's alter-ego "Supergirl":

KARA: We can't name her that.

CAT: 'We' didn't.

KARA: Shouldn't she be called 'Super Woman'?

CAT: What do you think is so bad about 'Girl'? I'm a girl. And your boss. And powerful. And rich. And hot. And smart. So if you perceive 'Supergirl' as anything less than excellent, isn't the real problem you?

Kara seems to take this not as the narcissistic blather of a preening ass clown, but as words of wisdom. Or at least the trailer seems to play it that way, with Kara immediately proclaiming she's all-in.

This character will either provide Kara with a model for what not to be, or a simplistic and negative template for how powerful women establish dominance.

Berlanti's track record—along with word that the show has less of the trailer's most irksome elements—give me hope.

3. Extend the Platform

Find advertisers who don't just fill ad space with empowering commercial messages. Find partners who leverage the storytelling in ways that can be extended into digital initiatives that encourage girls to start being "super" in their own lives, through public service and/or by identifying and building on their own strengths to shape their futures in positive ways.

Which is a way of saying that while the show can't be pedagogic, perhaps extensions can.

A Real Cliffhanger

Will "Supergirl" transcend its cliche-tinged trailer to become a positive cultural influence?

Will consumer brands from the likes of P&G, Unilever and others recognize the potential of this platform, and leverage it for "purpose-driven" campaigns aimed at girls?

And will CBS avoid screwing up a show that CW would ride to long-lasting success?

Time will tell if Kara Zor-El soars high—or bites Kryptonite dust—on these and other scores.

In the conclusion of my recent conversation with Scott, we talk about a 3D projection experience we developed for Seagate Technology's brand relaunch at CES this January.

Playing off the "data tile" elements of Seagate's new Living Logo (the world's first patent-pending brand identity), the experience (video at top) features the voice talent of William Lyman (narrator of "PBS Frontline"), as well as an original score from from Alain Mayrand, who did orchestrations for the movies "Ender's Game" and "Elysium").

Be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes video, too (directly above).

And then listen to the finale of our audio interview, where you'll hear about some of the considerable challenges associated with trying to pull off a 3D projection like this in the middle of the day, in a very unconventional space—and about Scott's favorite 3D projection project ever.

In part two of my recent conversation with Adrian Scott, head of Vancouver-based Go2 Productions, we discuss why the real power of 3D projections like the ones shown in the highlight reel above isn't the display itself—it's what you (and passersby) do with it afterward via social media.

We'll also hear about some of the emerging technologies that will see 3D projection evolve into something closer to the Star Trek Holodeck—or at least like a certain scene in another fabled space opera.

I've posed the question before, and more and more, it seems like the answer is an emphatic "Yes!"

While TV is still the dominant form of media, digital outdoor in general - 3D Projection Mapping in particular - creates an blockbuster experience for all within eye shot.

For the uninitiated, 3D Projection Mapping is very much what it sounds like: Projection that uses 3D technology to transform buildings, geographic structures and other (typically but not exclusively outdoor) 2D surfaces for maximum effect. I'm talking office buildings that literally come to life to astonishing effect.

Indeed, 3D Projection is coming into its own, most often used at large scale brand or campaign launch events. But more importantly, it's what smart brands do after the event that matters most. Think the kind of video that goes viral very quickly, eliciting many "oohs" and "ahs" along the way.

And no other company in North America seems to be as prolific at the art and science of 3D Projection as Vancouver, British Columbia-based Go2 Productions.

Over the last few years, Go2 has developed 3D experiences for Southwest Airlines, Genie, Sports Illustrated, Pepsi, Trukfit, Hyundai, LG Electronics and more - usually on behalf of ad agencies in need of expertise in this amazing new milieu.

In fact, we've collaborated with Go2 on brand launch experience for LoopNet and Seagate Technologies.

In part one of a recent interview with Scott, we talk about two new initiatives. Watch the videos featured in this post, and listen as Adrian describes what 3D Projection Mapping is, and how he and his team have even engage other senses to create not just 3D, but 4D experiences.

In the conclusion of my recent "exit interview" with legendary New York Times ad industry columnist Stuart Elliott, we discuss what it was like to cover such a idiosyncratic industry without much first-hand experience in the business.

How did being one step removed hinder - or help?

As Elliott says goodbye to the Times, we'll get his views on that topic.

And we'll try one last time to get his predictions for what's next in the world of advertising. His response is worth noting even for those of us who do work in this crazy, wonderful industry.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/04/04/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-concl-uncertainty-certain/feed/0FAREWELL Q&A WITH NY TIMES AD COLUMNIST STUART ELLIOTT (PT 3): CHANGE IS (ON) THE AIRhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/03/04/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-pt-3-change-is-on-the-air/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/03/04/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-pt-3-change-is-on-the-air/#commentsThu, 05 Mar 2015 01:47:19 +0000Rick Mathiesonhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=39018In part three of an expansive "exit interview" I conducted with Elliott just weeks after he announced his retirement in December - he points to how ad agencies used to pretend they were bigger, until that became a liability, and why brands had better keep up with demographic trends, or risk being risk being left behind.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/03/04/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-pt-3-change-is-on-the-air/feed/0Farewell Q&A with NY Times Ad Columnist Stuart Elliott (Part 2): What I Saw at the Revolutionhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/02/17/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-part-2-what-i-saw-at-the-revolution/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/02/17/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-part-2-what-i-saw-at-the-revolution/#commentsTue, 17 Feb 2015 17:03:07 +0000Rick Mathiesonhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=38886Content marketing may get a lot of buzz these days - but it's as old as advertising itself.

In part two of my conversation with longtime New York Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott, we continue to talk about how social media has paradoxically fueled growth in television viewership - especially for events like the Super Bowl.

But as part of this wide-ranging farewell Q&A with Elliott - who retired in December after nearly 25 years of covering advertising for the Times - we get into sponsorship advertising, as well as so-called content and video marketing.

Surprise: None of this is future-forward at all. Indeed, it's a return to the golden age of advertising. But while it sideswipes the problem of ad-skipping technologies and an ever-expanding universe of digital distractions, it comes with some considerable challenges of its own.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/02/17/farewell-qa-with-ny-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-part-2-what-i-saw-at-the-revolution/feed/0Farewell Q&A with New York Times Ad Columnist Stuart Elliott (Part 1): What I Saw at the Revolutionhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/02/05/farewell-qa-with-new-york-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-part-1-what-i-saw-at-the-revolution/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2015/02/05/farewell-qa-with-new-york-times-ad-columnist-stuart-elliott-part-1-what-i-saw-at-the-revolution/#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 20:08:54 +0000Rick Mathiesonhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=38844... Read more]]>The advertising world released a collective gasp when news hit that Stuart Elliott - the longtime advertising columnist for the New York Times - was accepting a buy-out package and would retire.

After nearly 25 years of covering advertising for the Times, not to mention stints at USA Today and Ad Age before that, Stuart and his column had become must-read for puissant, timely insights on Mad Ave.

And what a quarter century it was. From the early 1990s to today, the ad industry went from analog everything to digital domination; from "Married with Children" to "Modern Family;" and from bigger-is-better, to small is the new black.

"Who could or would have thought in the early ’90s that 20-odd years later the hegemony of television, for decades the most powerful ad medium, would be under siege, or at least, in question" Stuart wrote in his final column December 18.

"Ratings data, the currency of television, is growing problematic because viewership is more difficult to measure when people use mobile devices instead of TV sets; or watch shows online, as streaming video or as video-on-demand. And it is easier than ever for viewers to ignore or avoid traditional commercials; popular streaming services like Netflix are (gasp!) ad-free."

In an expansive new interview just days before Sunday's Super Bowl, I talked to Stuart about what he saw at the revolution - and why, despite all the change around us, everything old is new again.

At least not in its current model, which mostly takes the conventions from another medium (ad banners on the old-school Internet) and plops them into our used-to-be-shrinking-now-ever-expanding mobile phone screens.

Let me explain.

In 2005, it was clear to me that mobile advertising would have to be a game changer. But not just because it’s mobile, or the fact that you can target based on things like location.

As I wrote back then in my first book, BRANDING UNBOUND, the web banner-based ad model for mobile was something that had to be tried, and continues onto this day – if not for anything else than it’s a familiar framework, and it’s easy for agency folks to explain to clients.

Indeed, most marketers still don’t have a clue about mobile marketing. Just think of how the industry (and financial markets) herald Facebook’s success in mobile advertising.

I find it intriguing. I have yet to see a Facebook banner ad that a.) I’ve clicked on, and b.) is anything different than the way I’d experience that same ad on the old school Internet.

Just because an ad is experienced on a mobile device, doesn’t mean it’s a mobile ad.

And despite sky-high response rates for some campaigns, I believe the model for advertising will change dramatically. I just thought we would have gotten further in that regard by 2015.

So let’s look at the predictions – where I got it right, and where I myself was clueless.

ACTIVATION VS. (MERE) AMPLIFICATION

As a marketer, I have always found mobile advertising Bores-ville. As a consumer, I think it’s a snooze fest.

Those sky-high click-through rates? Just like with the desktop web before it, response rates are high now because of lack of clutter and novelty of delivery mode. As consumers become inured, response rates will (continue) to fall, just as with every advertising medium before it.

According to some estimates, one half of mobile ad banner click throughs are accidents. I suspect that's conservative.

But the solution isn’t to come up with more ad units or even better campaign creative.

Just use mobile advertising for what it is. If you find success – as many claim to have achieved – awesome.

But, as I contended barely a year after Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, and roughly five years before Facebook launched its mobile advertising offering, the real power of mobile isn’t in ad banners.

In BRANDING UNBOUND and also in a piece I wrote for ADWEEK on the topic, I argued its true power likes in activating commercial messages in OTHER media - super charging the effectiveness of print, radio, outdoor, cinema, television, direct mail advertising, right at the point of impression.

INTEGRATION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME

In the book, I look at Dove’s hugely successful Campaign for Real Beauty, then only months old. As the marketing world knows, this then-counterintuitive campaign for Dove beauty products encourages women to eschew unhealthy beauty industry conventions about what is beautiful and embrace themselves for who they are.

Two years before the iPhone was launched, Dove’s fully integrated campaign included, among so many other things, a Time Square digital billboard that flashed images of the kind of real women Dove showcases in its advertising. Headlines read, “Fat? Or Fabulous?” and “Wrinkled or Wonderful?” and so on – encouraging passersby to text in their vote, with tallies displayed in real time.

In Rome, consumers could respond to Dunkin’ Donuts’ print, outdoor and broadcast advertising via mobile and receive a mobile coupon worth a free cup of coffee with the purchase of one of the doughnut giant’s 52 pastry variations – from the Apple Crumb Cake to its worldwide favorite, the Boston Kreme Donut. A full 82% of people who responded to the campaign via mobile came into a store to redeem. In its first three weeks, the campaign had boosted overall sales 20% - with about half of those sales directly attributed to mobile.

In Japan, greeting card giant Hallmark scored big with a mobile greeting card campaign from Ogilvy called Hallmark Hiya. In a market unaccustomed to sending cards for birthdays and anniversaries, Hiya enabled consumers to participate in a “virtual drama” involving seven fictitious friends. Each participant would then periodically receive a text or voice message from one of the characters, asking for a response. To do so, participants would choose from one of three possible messages, each expressing an intimate feeling or expression. Depending on the selection, the story line would take a different direction. Within its first 20 days, over 40,000 consumers signed up to participate. And Hallmark ended up exceeding its sales goals for the entire quarter.

The world over, Coca-Cola was already using mobile to activate sweepstakes campaigns, including bottle cap promotions that enabled consumers to text in codes to accumulate points toward music downloads – a formula that has now been leveraged by countless brands.

One of my favorite Coca-Cola mobile initiatives of that era – which used a model I’ve yet to see replicated – involved mobile activation dynamic in reverse. Instead of getting consumers to interact with the brand via their mobile phone, Coke sent the mobile phone to the customer, in the form of a soda can. As part of its “Unexpected Summer” promotion, high tech soda cans in specially marked Coca-Cola multipacks contained the electronic guts of a combination mobile phone and GPS tracker.

By weight and feel, it was just like any other can of Coke. But it looked quite different. The outside of the can featured an activation button, a microphone and a miniature speaker. When the consumer who was lucky enough to find the can pressed the button, the phone called a special hotline where winners could find out what they’d won – prizes included vacation packages and a new Chevy Equinox SUV. And the GPS system remained activated until one of five "national search times” could locate each winner.

This was all over 10 years ago. And with all of this creativity, I think I expected that by 2015, marketers would, to borrow the conventions of Gartner’s Hype Cycle, already have gone well past the “Peak of Inflated Expectation,” hit the bottom of the “Trough of Disillusionment,” and at least found themselves scaling the “Slope of Enlightenment.” With any luck, I’d hoped, they’d even reached the “Plateau of Productivity.”

ACCURACY?

If I was wrong about the creative use of mobile to supercharge integrated campaigns, my expectations for the Gartner Hype Cycle seem to be reasonable.

Personally, when I ask marketers about it now, they seem to fall somewhere toward the ascent toward the Peak of Initial Expectations (the aforementioned Facebook mobile advertising hype), or on the descent toward disillusionment.

But this year's Gartner Hype Cycle places mobile advertising as emerging out of the trough and on its way on the Slope of Enlightenment. I hope they’re right.

To be truly compelling, mobile advertising must be used to activate and engage in branded experiences and offers. It must use the attributes unique to the medium – location (both physical and at the point of inspiration, as my friend and mobile startup entrepreneur Dorrian Porter once put it) and the social connections mobile enables to create the kind of experiences that truly put the "mobile" in "mobile advertising." Throw in mobile augmented reality, and then you're really getting somewhere.

In 2005, my first book, BRANDING UNBOUND, hit bookshelves proclaiming a new era for marketing – one where the most measurable, personal and direct link to consumers ever created would change the world of marketing forever.

Written in 2003 and 2004, and published in June of ’05, I prognosticated about Apple Pay, iPad, Google Glass, Nest – and trends like marketing personalization, mixed reality social apps, augmented reality and more.

The book came out in June 2005 - two full years before the first iPhone was launched and heralded seismic changes to our relationship with technology.

Advertising that anticipates what you want and offers it before you even think you want it.

Offers sent to you in-store, based on your age, gender, location, stated preferences and past purchase history—and even what merchandise you’re holding in your hands, in real time.

Mobile, social platforms that let you do everything from get your gossip on to facilitating real-world meet ups between “crushes” who happen to be within 10 blocks of each others' physical location.

Stores where you just walk in, get what you want, and simply walk out the door - the costs of goods automatically deducted from your bank account - without you ever waiting in line (or pull out your wallet) again.

It all seems so commonplace now. But 10 years ago, very few people believed any of this would so quickly come to define modern living.

Then again, as I wrote at the time, mass consumer adoption of the World Wide Web was only 10-years in the making. And it was all just a warm-up act.

Just think about the hype about the Web back then, and how it represented a marketer's dream come true – an interactive, one-to-one utopia linking shoppers and their quarry in the electronically enabled Elysium Fields of 24-7 commerce.

Of course, Google, Amazon and eBay notwithstanding, banner ads, online communities of interest, and click-and-mortar etailing had yet to truly the deliver the attention or sales they had long promised – tethered as they were to cumbersome, confounding devices called desktop and laptop PCs.

But over the first half of the aughts, a new generation of wireless and mobile technology was quietly liberating the Web from its PC-based subjugation.

Thanks to high-speed mobile networks, what we used to refer to as the “Information Super Highway” and its advertising, applications and services were finally hitting the road with you. Unlike its first 10 years, the Internet was finally living up to its anywhere, anytime premise.

And yet despite all of this, most marketers didn’t have a clue about what was happening all around them—much less how to leverage it.

In coming posts, I’ll share some of the predictions I made way back then about what mobile marketing would be like in 2015.

We’ll see where this long-ago stranger staring back at me from the book jacket got it right, and where he got it laughably wrong.

Along the way, we may just also start glimpsing what the world of marketing looks like in 2025 (it’s closer than you think).

First Up: Wearables

To be clear, I was nearly done writing the book before Google even had its IPO, and the company was almost exclusively known for search.

I had no idea the company would one day have a product called Glass, which is scheduled to go into wide release in 2015. And even now it remains to be seen whether it or some future wearable, eye-based tech will meet mass adoption.

But I was clear that glasses (and wristwatches) would be among the earliest forms of wearable interfaces to layer mobile Web and even augmented reality elements over the physical world.

We’ll check email and exchange personal contact information and even multimedia content with our friends and colleagues while on the go; place transactions without ever reaching for a wallet or purse; and look like lunatics as we walk down the street jabbering away on hands-free phone calls.

Using the conventions of virtual worlds like There and Second Life as illustrations of this model, I talked about how we would one day use interfaces built into glasses and other devices to instantly access a pervasive, always-on, global mobile network.

Once logged on, we would toggle between the physical and digital world. Check our buddy lists to see where our friends are. Conduct transactions. And do an endless array of daily tasks from the beach, the back road, or even above the clouds.

And the networks behind it would create a mesh of mobile technologies that extend the Internet, with apologies to Visa, “everywhere you want to be.”

Accuracy?

TBD, at best. There’s no doubt these technologies are quite topical. It’s jut an open question as to whether Google Glass or Apple Watch will prove successful; if later products gain more traction in the marketplace; or if other technologies leapfrog them altogether (look for direct mobile-to-brain connections by 2025 – seriously).

However it all shapes up, my point in 2005 was that all of these emerging trends and technologies create questions with which marketers would spend the next decade struggling.

What does mobile mean to businesses trying to keep up with – and serve – the increasingly mobile masses?

How do we redefine “advertising,” "marketing" and the “brand experience” when the most direct link to the consumer is less and less the 52-inch flat screen TV in the living room, the 17-inch PC monitor in the den or office, or the 15-inch laptop screen - and more and more the completely personal, interactive device in the hands of virtually every man, woman and child on the planet?

It will be fun to revisit some of my predictions on how marketers would sort this all out by 2015 (to the degree they have succeeded at all).

As I read passages from the book today, I come across some that make me think, “Nicely played, smarty pants” – and others where I roll my eyes and wonder, “WTF was I thinking?”

As I put it in the close of the book’s first chapter, “One thing is clear: Something cool – and very important – is happening on the wireless frontier. And in the decade ahead, it’s going to change expectations for consumers – and the companies that serve them – in ways most of us can’t even yet imagine.”

On that score, prediction has now progressed to everyday reality for billions of people (and brands) around the world.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/12/05/2015-mobile-marketing-predictions-from-2005-pt-1/feed/0A Restaurateur's Best Friend: Q&A with James McKinney, CEO of SimpleDeal (Pt 2)http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/02/07/a-restaurateurs-best-friend-qa-with-james-mckinney-ceo-of-simpledeal-pt-2/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/02/07/a-restaurateurs-best-friend-qa-with-james-mckinney-ceo-of-simpledeal-pt-2/#commentsFri, 07 Feb 2014 21:25:28 +0000Rick Mathiesonhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=33211In part one of my interview with SimpleDeal CEO James McKinney, we heard about how this new app connects passersby with restaurants right at the point of maximum interest.

In part two, we'll hear more about what it means to restaurants - including how they might be able to turn a trove of data into a gold mine.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/02/07/a-restaurateurs-best-friend-qa-with-james-mckinney-ceo-of-simpledeal-pt-2/feed/0Q&A: James McKinney, CEO of Simple Deal – A New Twist on Mobile Deal Apps for Restaurants (Pt 1)http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/02/05/qa-james-mckinney-ceo-of-simple-deal-a-new-twist-on-mobile-deal-apps-for-restaurants-pt-1/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/02/05/qa-james-mckinney-ceo-of-simple-deal-a-new-twist-on-mobile-deal-apps-for-restaurants-pt-1/#commentsWed, 05 Feb 2014 23:28:33 +0000Rick Mathiesonhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=33171... Read more]]>I'm digging SimpleDeal, which looks to be a promising new hyper-local mobile app that connects restaurants with customers at the point of maximum interest.

Unlike apps for setting reservations, receiving daily deals, pre-ordering meals and so on, SimpleDeal acts like a kind of digital wingman, enabling passersby to point their mobile phones at a restaurant to see the menu, find out more about its offerings, review any special deals and make a dining decision.

The restaurant can then follow up with new deals if the consumer opts in, but the app capitalizes on what I believe is mobile's greatest promise.

That is to say it is not push-based, it is pull-based - consumer activated, at the consumer's discretion, at the moment when a consumer is most interested in what you have to offer. And it is enabled through an online portal where restaurants can modify their messaging, or change out specials or deals, in real time.

Most important of all, it gives the client restaurant more than just a transactional ROI, it gives them added voice and value, by enabling them to share what they believe makes their offerings unique.

Time will tell if SimpleDeal, which is live in Long Beach California today, and about to expand into Orange County, will truly take off. But in a Q&A with McKinney, the model as he describes it is definitely worthy of the effort.

Among other things, McKinney points out that a "deal" doesn't need to mean "discount," which is an important factor for a famously margin-tight industry. And it may be the data the app generates that's may be of interest most of all.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/02/05/qa-james-mckinney-ceo-of-simple-deal-a-new-twist-on-mobile-deal-apps-for-restaurants-pt-1/feed/03 Secrets to Powerhouse 'Prankvertising' (Video)http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/01/07/3-secrets-to-powerhouse-prankvertising-video/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/01/07/3-secrets-to-powerhouse-prankvertising-video/#commentsTue, 07 Jan 2014 23:43:49 +0000Rick Mathiesonhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=32723... Read more]]>Click here to view the embedded video.
A growing number of brands are finding that it can pay big to pull pranks on your customers so other people can laugh at them.

Just look at Sony Pictures, which faked this telekinetic rampage inside a local coffee shop - captured in the video above - complete with patrons pushed up the side of the wall, furniture and books blown about – to promote the new remake of the horror classic, “Carrie.”

Or LG. In an effort to show off the lifelike picture on its next-generation IPS video monitors, the consumer electronics giant scared the crud out of people in elevators by making it appear as if the floor is falling away – with the instant fear captured with eye-level cameras.

Dubbed “prankvertising,” the technique combines real-world antics with digital-age magic to astonish those who see it live, and to delight the many (many) more who will view videos of the shenanigans online.

And it’s catching on – because it costs a fraction of the money of network television spots to produce, and promises a viral multiplier effect as consumers spread the mischief via social media.

But with the potential risks so high, the possible backlash to brands so profound, how do you punk your customers for fun and profit?

Very carefully. And always keep these three all-important secrets to successful prankvertising in mind.

1. No Method, Pure Madness

It’s critical that you understand what your objectives are for your stunt. In the “Carrie” example above, patrons would be forgiven for not knowing what the promotion is all about. There may have been a big reveal that told them it was all a promotion for the movie. But we don’t see it in the video, so it’s left unclear whether they ever knew what hit them.

The stunt was so amazing, it garnered widespread coverage from outlets ranging from Huffington Post to NBC News. Which, to be clear, was surely part of the plan.

But aside from car door signage and a hashtag motif on clothing and the sub itself, without a climatic reveal, it’s unclear to me how passersby (or even many casual viewers of the video) ever figured out what company, if any, was behind this gobstopping display.

Contrast that with this street promo from cable network TV channel TNT, where cause (a conspicuous button invitation to “push to add drama”) equals epic effect on a quiet Flemish square. No one present – or viewing vicariously – missed the point, which is beautifully tied to TNT’s entire brand proposition.

2. Catch & Release

As the examples above demonstrate, the stunt itself is just the cost of entry. The entire point is to garner unpaid press coverage and, more importantly, extend considerable reach and frequency via online video and social media. This has the benefit of enabling the brand to make sure the video drives home the marketing message just the way they want. Capture your prankees’ reactions, then release the video of your escapades to the world.

Exhibit A: This recent promotion from Paramount to promote the DVD release of “Star Trek Into Darkness,” which even takes us behind the curtain to see how they pulled it all off. The only thing better would have been to have one of the kids beam back as Leonard Nimoy.

Or this prank from Pepsi Max, which captures delighted passersby as they marvel at celebrity magician Dynamo as he levitates up the side of a London bus as a way of communicating the magical lightness of this low-cal soda brand.

Hundreds may see the live stunt. Thousands, even millions will see it online – provided you package it up in a compelling video experience. Sending the video to key media outlets and buying ad space on YouTube or elsewhere never hurts, either. You’d be surprised how many “viral” hits start that way.

3. The Crueler, The Better – But Kindness Trumps All

Some might find Tic Tac’s “Bad Breath” a little mean spirited. And Nivea's "Stress Test" prank - where airline travelers are singled out as wanted criminals – is in a category all its own. But most viewers likely think these are a hoot. Ditto for LG’s schadenfreude in the elevator shaft (not to mention its stage-fright-in-the-mens-room antics).

Of course, some may suspect the Moore prank was faked – how many painters can you line up after-hours in a remote location? But if true, this is a nice, harmless way to trick and treat you way to a successful promo.

Still, as fun as it can be to reach out and freak someone, kindness wins every time.

The bride-to-be’s family owns a number of Hondas, and even asked a local dealership for three CRVs to help with the wedding festivities. As Adweek puts it, they got a lot more than they expected - to the point that the brand may have upstaged the nuptials.

But as a stunt, this one drives home an emotional bond between consumers and their favorite brands.

What's your view? Is this a brand disaster waiting to happen? Do consumers really enjoy being punked?

What rules or examples would you add to this list? And how can your brand score big by pulling a fast one on your customers?

In an epic new holiday promo, Canadian airline WestJet asked passengers about their holiday wishlists as they boarded a plane - and then had those gifts delivered to the baggage carousel at the passengers' destination.

When was the last time you wanted to take to social media to share something this nice about an airline?

This reminds me of that "Three Minutes in Italy" campaign from San Pellegrino where you control a robot on the streets of Sicily from anywhere in the world.

But here, you control a person outfitted with audio video tech who will do what you ask him to do so you can tour Melbourne before you actually go - vicariously taking in the sites and sounds you want to experience.

What if a brand like Pepsi let you, for instance, "attend" the Super Bowl? Or Red Bull brought you on its next crazy stunt - with you in control of the show?

People get worked up over "real time marketing" (basically brands using Twitter to comment on televised events as they happen).

Wouldn't this kind of thing take it to a much cooler place - bringing you to the televised event, rather than just consuming tweets about it?